Two sentenced in plot to ship aircraft to Iran

A US court has sentenced an Iranian and an American national for their roles in a plot to ship an aircraft and its parts to Islamic Republic Iran.

While the Iranian citizen Hamid Asefi, 67, was sentenced to 23 months, a US citizen Behzad Karimian, (52), also known as "Tony" Karimian who holds a valid Iranian passport and is employed as a Mesaba Airlines Pilot, was sentenced to 52 months in prison on Monday.

The two had pleaded guilty to the charges.

Karimian and Asefi were charged with violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for exporting, selling or causing the export or sale of aircraft and aircraft parts without having the required license from the US Department of Treasury.

Asefi made his initial appearance in Louisville district court in Kentucky on June 1, 2012 while Karimian appeared in the Court on June 6, 2012.

Asefi is the principal officer of Aster Corp Ltd, an Iranian company with offices in both Iran and the United Kingdom.

The indictment charges that, from August 2007 to April 2011, Asefi used the UK office of Aster to serve as a transshipment point to facilitate shipment of goods from the United States to Iran.